When you have enough applicants but not the right candidate, do this.

A founder I talked to the other day was about to make a big mistake. They could not find the right person for the job, so they were going to move forward with someone that did not match the skill set and did not match the cultural values. They never hired for that particular role before, so they thought let’s give it a try. To be clear, this was not a benefit-of-the-doubt let’s give him a chance thing. It was clearly not a fit. They were hiring out of despair. Filling the vacancy had become more important than finding the right candidate.

Hiring is too important of a job to make decisions out of despair.

Know what you are looking for is the key.

Communicating that clearly unlocks the door.

Start with creating a Job Brief. This is all about figuring out what exactly the role is that you’re trying to fill, whom you’re looking for, how you’re going to find them and how you’ll evaluate them.

This document is not the job description that you include in your job post. A job brief is an internal document that provides input you need to create your job post.

Spending some time on this will save you time down the road and ensure that everyone is aligned on the role before you get too far in the process.

Then write the vacancy as if you are writing a product sales page. Get a copywriter to take a look at it. Your job posts need to be clear and informative while sparking the interest of talent. And not just any talent, but qualified, enthusiastic and ideally diverse talent. This isn’t easy, especially since candidates on average spend less than 6 seconds looking at a job post.

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